


Fool's Gold

by kybrrey



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heist, M/M, National Treasure au, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-06-29 10:55:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19828711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kybrrey/pseuds/kybrrey
Summary: "I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence."Finn remained frozen for a moment, staring at the case, before blinking and finally turning towards Rey. "I'm sorry you're going to what?"





	1. The Falcon

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to two people. The first is to my brother, who gave me the edible that got me high and gave me the inspiration for this AU in the first place. The second is to my wonderful beta [Bri](https://twitter.com/brizeeboo) without whom I probably wouldn't feel confident enough to post this :)
> 
> Also just a big shout out to this movie for existing in the first place.

“Come on, come on.” Rey mumbled to herself as she stood in the dark, smacking her heavy duty flashlight in an attempt to bring it to life. A loud crack of thunder from the storm outside made Rey jump and drop the flashlight onto her foot.

“Ow, ow, crap!” Rey exclaimed as she grabbed her foot and hopped over to the wall behind her,  
leaning against it as she waited for the pain to subside.

After a moment she reached down and felt around hoping to find her flashlight in the dark., until finally a flash of lightning illuminated the floor just enough to spot it. 

She grabbed it, and with one final smack, the flashlight flickered on, illuminating the dusty, wooden staircase leading into her grandfather’s attic. Slowly, Rey crept up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible on the old creaky wood. Her grandfather didn’t like her going up there alone, especially at night and during a storm.

Halfway up, the step under Rey’s foot groaned loudly under her weight and , she froze, listening carefully for the sounds of her grandfather moving around the house or calling out her name. After waiting long enough to feel confident she wasn’t heard, Rey continued up the steps.

As she reached the top step, the flashlight illuminated the old attic before her. The high, peaked roof almost made the room look like a triangle but the roof line stopped right before hitting the floor, leaving just enough space for tiny windows that looked out into the backyard.

 _It’s up here somewhere._ Rey thought to herself as she started to search through the piles of junk her grandfather kept stored. After ten minutes of relentless digging, she found the chest she was looking for hidden under a couple boxes with a tarp draped over it. 

She set her flashlight down on a table piled with more of her grandfathers things, illuminating the items in front of her. Quickly, she pulled the tarp off and threw it to the side before proceeding to up the boxes. Once she cleared everything she slid the box away from the wall and went back to grab her flashlight.

As she began to open the chest, the creaking of the lid and another loud clap of thunder covered the noise of her grandfather sneaking up the stairs behind her. She started to reach into the chest when a hand landed on her shoulder and she jumped out of her skin.

“AAAHHH!!” Rey screamed and turned around.

Her grandfather’s face looked haunting with only her flashlight illuminating it. After, realizing who it was, Rey’s heart rate began to even out.

“I thought I told you not to come up here at night.” He chastised Rey.

“Yes…” Rey murmured, looking at the floor, “but I just, I wanted to know.”

“Know about what?” Her grandfather asked, even though he knew what Rey was talking about.

“The treasure Grandpa!” Rey exclaimed, “The treasure I’ve heard whispers from you my entire life. The reason why you don’t like me coming up here is because of that right? Because you’ve clearly hidden stuff about it up here!”

Obi Wan stood there, trying to hold back a smile, as he watched Rey pace back and forth as she ranted and waved her arms to emphasize her points.

“Rey?” He started, but Rey continued to talk over him.

“...and I’ve always followed your rules but it doesn’t seem fair, right? I’m 10 years old! I’m a Kenobi why can’t I know?”

“You’re right.”

“I-- wait what?” Rey stopped pacing and turned towards her grandfather.

“You’re right, I think you are old enough now. I think it’s about time I told you the legacy of our family.”

Confusion morphed into pure excitement as Rey squealed and raced over to grab two chairs tucked away in the corner of the dusty attic. She set the two chairs down across from one another and placed the flashlight upright on the floor in the middle of the two, giving them as much light as possible in the darkness between the flashes of lightning from outside. She sat down with her hands folded in her lap looking at her grandfather expectantly.

“Okay I’m ready.”

Chuckling softly, Obi Wan sat down in the other chair and crossed his right leg over his left, leveling his gaze at Rey.

“I honestly wasn’t sure if you would want to hear the story. Your father was never really interested in it.”

“Well I’m not my father am I? I’ll never be my father.” Rey answered flatly. She never liked hearing about her father, let alone being compared to him. “I want to know.”

“Very well then. Our story begins, hundreds, no thousands of years ago, with a treasure. A treasure larger than you could ever possibly imagine. A treasure fought over for centuries and across continents by emperors, pharaohs, and warlords. And every time it changed hands it grew larger and larger, until suddenly,” Obi snapped his fingers,causing Rey to jump back in her seat, “the treasure vanished.”

“But how?” Rey asked so softly you could barely hear her over the storm continuing to rage outside.

“No one knows.” Obi Wan answered, “For more than a thousand years no one was ever able to locate the treasure, until a group of knights from the first crusade found it sealed away in the catacombs beneath the Temple of Solomon. Once the knights set their eyes on this treasure, they believed that it was too much for any one man to possess. So they took it, brought the treasure back to Europe, and hid it away again, promising to keep the treasure a secret so no one man could ever possess it. In that promise they took the name, The Knights of the Old Republic.”

At this point Rey was on the edge of her seat again, completely engrossed by her grandfather’s words, the sounds of the storm outside no more than white noise in the background.

“Slowly over many decades, the Knights smuggled the treasure out of Europe and formed a new fellowship, The Freemasons, to honor those who built the temple that guarded the treasure for over a thousand years. By the American Revolution, the treasure had been hidden again and the Freemasons grew to include the likes of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, even Paul Revere. These men wanted to make sure that the treasure never fell into the hands of unworthy men again. So they devised a series of clues and maps to its location. But over time the clues were all lost, except for one.”

“Is this where we come in?” Rey asked excitedly

“Yes I’m getting there don’t worry.” Obi Wan said chuckling softly. “That one clue that remained was with hidden away with Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Carroll knew he was dying. So on the last night of his life, a night as dark and stormy as this one, Mr. Carroll called his stable boy in the middle of the night and made him ride to The White House as fast as he could, saying he had an urgent message he needed to get to the President, Andrew Jackson.”

“Did he get to talk to him?” Rey asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

“No, he never had the chance. The president wasn’t home that night. But he had a secret that needed to be shared. So in his final minutes he took into his confidence the only man he could his stable boy, my great great grandfather, Orion Kenobi. He entrusted Orion with the secret that he had kept safe his entire life.”

At that, her grandfather got up and walked over to the trunk Rey had opened earlier but never had the chance to search through. He reached in and rustled around for a moment before coming back to his seat with a small piece of paper in his hand. Obi Wan unfolded it and handed it out to Rey. She took it gently and looked down only to see one extremely faded word written there.

“The Falcon.” He continued, “The secret lies with The Falcon.”

“What’s The Falcon?” Rey asked as she handed the paper back.

“Oh not even Mr. Carroll knew that. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t leave us a way to find out. See, the Freemasons left us clues.” He pulled a dollar out of his pocket and held it up so Rey could see while he pointed to it. “The unfinished pyramid, the all-seeing eye. These are symbols of the Knights of the Old Republic. They’re speaking to us through them.”

Rey sat for a minute, trying to take in everything she just heard. Finally she looked up back up and asked, “Grandfather, does this mean we’re knights?”

Obi Wan raised his hand to his chin and thought about it for a moment, “Do you want to be?”

“Yes!” Rey exclaimed, “But can I be a knight, even though I’m a girl?”

“Well of course!” her grandfather exclaimed as he started to stand from his chair, “I’ve never heard of a good reason for a woman to not become a knight.”

Rey smiled and continued to sit in her seat, unsure of what exactly she was meant to do next.

“Well do you want to be a knight or not? Hop to, come on I don’t have all day you know!” he exclaimed while clapping his hands, jolting Rey into motion. “Take a knee please” he continued as he looked around the basement for something.

Rey hopped out of her chair and knelt down on her right knee waiting for her grandfather to find whatever it was he was looking for. A minute later he returned with an old roll of Christmas wrapping paper but he acted as if he held Excalibur itself. He rested the roll on Rey’s right shoulder and slowly moved it to the left as he recited the oath he created just for her.

“Rey Kenobi, you take upon the duties of the Knights of the Old Republic, the Freemasons, and the Kenobi family in protecting this treasure from those unworthy of it. Do you so swear?”

“I so swear.” Rey whispered in reply.

“Then rise Sir Rey Kenobi, Knight of the Old Republic.”

\-------- **_15 years later_** \--------

“Rey… Rey! REY!”

Rey jerked her head up off the frosty window, pulling herself out of the daze she had been stuck in for who knows how long and turned around in her seat to see Poe looking at her expectantly.

“Huh?” Rey responded, having no idea why her name was being yelled at her.

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Poe asked

“Ummm…”

“Of course she didn’t babe,” Finn responded for her from his place next to Poe in the back seat, not even looking up from his laptop. “Look at her. She has drool in the corner of her mouth.”

“No I don’t!” Rey retorted before turning back around to hide her hand as she swiftly wiped her mouth and looked back to see at the pair of satisfied smirks staring back at her.

“What do you two want that’s so important you had to break my concentration?”

“I highly doubt it’s important.” Hux commented from the driver’s seat of the Tucker Sno-Cat.

“Yes, Hugs, it is.” Poe shot back, “Everything I have to say is important, you should know that by now.”

Hux scoffed, "Well considering I have never witnessed you saying anything important myself I find that very hard to believe.”

“What I have to say is important because I know more about the Knights of the Old Republic treasure than you do!” Poe responded gleefully and reached forward to pat Rey on the shoulder, “I mean, not as much as our Rey of Sunshine here, no one knows more than she does. It’s obsessive almost.”

Rey huffed out a breath and slapped his hand away but didn’t hide the small smile spreading across her face.

Hux in turn just rolled his eyes and focused his attention on the compass mounted to the dash, making sure he was still headed in the right direction. A difficult feat when you were travelling through miles of wide open arctic tundra.

“Two years of working together and you guys still can’t make it through an argument without sniping at one another?” Rey asked.

“Nope.” Hux and Poe responded simultaneously.

“Falcon help me.” Rey moaned and slouched down a bit in her seat. “Just tell us Poe.”

“Well, I just wanted to let you know that Finn here says we’ve almost reached our destination.”

That got Rey to shoot up in her seat and look back at the two of them again. “Really? Are you sure?” she asked Finn excitedly.

“How can that be possible?” Hux gestured out the front windshield, “I don’t see anything except snow, snow, and, oh look, more snow.”

“Well…” Finn started, still looking at his laptop, “if Rey’s theory is correct and my tracking system is accurate, we should be very close. But then again I did knock over a salt shaker during breakfast this morning so I’m only 86% sure.”

“I guess that means we should turn around then.” Rey replied.

“Or we could just pull over and throw him out.” Hux suggested.

“Nah, I like him too much.” Rey said as she reached back and patted Finn on the knee. At the touch, he looked up from his laptop again and returned her grin.

Rey would never had made it this far without Finn. It was him and the idea of this treasure, her family legacy, that had kept her going through the years of being shuffled from foster home to foster home after her grandfather died of cancer. They met when Rey transferred to Finn’s high school sophomore year after being placed in her final foster home.

They had been paired together for a project in their American History class and were glued to each other’s sides ever since. The years of being moved from home to home made Rey more closed off than she had ever been before, but it had never been that way with Finn.. It wasn’t long until Rey found herself telling Finn all about her family’s history and the hidden treasure that it was linked to. Since that moment, Finn had made it his mission to help Rey find the Knights treasure.

It wasn’t until college that Poe joined their little team. He had been Rey’s TA her junior year for her Colonial British North America class. Poe had already known about the treasure from his own research before he ever met Rey. And once he began dating Finn towards the end of the fall semester, it was clear he was going to become a new addition to their treasure hunting team.

A loud beeping coming from Finns laptop jolted her out of the daze she hadn’t realized she’d fallen back into.  
“Oh my god. Holy shit. Holy shit!” exclaimed Poe as he stared wide eyed at the screen next to him, slapping Finn’s arm in excitement.

“We’re here?” Rey asked eagerly.

Finn slowly looked up at her with a huge grin spreading across his face. The moment they made eye contact she knew, they had found it.

Hux picked up his walkie talkie from the dashboard and radioed over to the other Sno-Cat, full of Hux’s men, telling them to stop. Everyone quickly grabbed their things and Rey was the first one to jump down onto the firmly packed snow.

She reached back in to grab the ice ax that had been laying by her feet on the floor. After attaching it to her belt, she turned and looked out over the miles of snow in front of her. 

The Falcon was out there. Not just because Finn’s tracker told her so, but she felt it in her gut, they were so close. After spending years of her life obsessing over her family’s legacy, the only part of her family that she even had left, it was finally becoming worth it. 

Rey looked over and saw Hux walk around back and open the trunk, pulling out metal detectors for everyone. The men in the other truck started unloading their gear as well.

Finn and Poe both came up and stood beside her, Finn still holding his laptop and Poe pulling his sunglasses out of his coat pocket and placing them on his nose.

“How the hell does a ship end up out all the way out here?” Poe asked

“Well,” Finn started as he put his laptop away in his book bag, pulled out a hand held tracking device, and started messing with it, “I’m no expert but it’s possible that this environment’s hydrothermic properties could produce hurricane force ice storms, causing the ocean to freeze, then melt, and then refreeze, forming a semisolid shifting land mass that would cause the ship to land right about… here.” 

He gestured to the mass expanse of snow in front of them without looking up from his device. Finn took a breath and looked up to see Poe staring at his with his mouth hanging open in awe.

“Not an expert my ass.” He mumbled as he planted a kiss on Finn’s brow then headed toward Hux and his crew to grab a metal detector. Finn just stood there as he watched Poe walk away with a soft smile. 

Rey, still standing next to Finn, wrapped her arm around him, drawing his attention towards her.

“We’re actually going to find it Finn.” Rey whispered softly, “After all these years. She’s really out there. I just wish my grandfather could be here to see it too.”

\--------------

 _Where the hell are you?_ Rey thought to herself after 30 minutes of wandering around in circles, metal detector in hand, just waiting for any kind of noise besides the faint hum the device gave off. She looked over her shoulder and saw the rest of the group spread out behind her. All still looking for the long lost ship.

Rey turned back around and continued her trek forward, sweeping the metal detector back and forth. Come on baby. Come on.

After a couple minutes Rey started to feel a slight incline beneath her feet. Then in the next second, her metal detector let out a loud BEEP and Rey froze. Slowly she moved the metal detector back to the left and it let out another BEEP.

“Holy fuck.” Rey whispered to herself before she bursted into action. Tossing the metal detector aside, Rey grabbed the ice ax from were it rest in her belt and began to swing, flinging snow around until she heard the clank of metal on metal.

“Guys I found something!”

She dropped the ax and started digging with her hands, trying to see as much as possible of whatever was hidden beneath the snow. More and more metal started to appear beneath her hands and she could feel the edges of a word embossed on the surface of whatever she had found. 

In her excitement, Rey didn’t hear Finn’s footsteps as he ran up behind her. Only when she heard his heavy breathing close behind her did she look up over his shoulder to see him hunched over with his hands on his knees.

“What. Did. You. Find?” He asked between deep breaths.

Without responding, Rey reached into his coat pocket and grabbed his small water bottle. She started pouring it over the embossed words. As the water hit the metal, the snow stuck to its surface began to melt away, allowing Rey to read the word she had spent the past 15 years of her life looking for.

“The Falcon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/kybrrey)


	2. Billion Dollar Pipe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “A pipe?” Finn asked, confused, his deflated tone pulled Rey out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a disappointed look on his face, and on everyone else’s as well.
> 
> “Do you guys even know what this is?” Rey asked incredulously, a smile brandishing her cold face. She lifted the pipe from its silk cushion so everyone could see it better.
> 
> “Is it a billion dollar pipe?” Poe asked eagerly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to my friend who literally has a copy of the Declaration of Independence hanging up in their bedroom and it inspired me to finally finish this chapter. At this rate I'll finish grad school before I finish this fic.
> 
> As always thank you to [Bri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brizeeb00) for being the greatest beta and human being on the face of the earth. Half the reason I'm still writing this thing is because you get so excited about it.

It took hours of shoveling for the group to clear away all the snow and reveal The Falcon in all her glory. Even in its dilapidated state, it was everything that Rey had dreamt it would be.

As Hux’s men continued to plow the excess snow away from the ship, Rey took the chance to finally catch her breath. She could see Hux sitting down in the snow, leaning against the side of the ship taking a drink from his water bottle and made her way over to him.

“I never would have found this without you help you know.” Rey said as she sat down next to him. Hux turned his head slightly to the side, looking at her for a moment. 

“I’m sure that’s not true.” he finally responded and he turned his head back again to look out at the seemingly endless snow ahead of them.

“Oh no, I’m serious.” Rey insisted, “Sure I had Finn and Poe but without your resources… I never would have been able to earn the money to make all this happen. If you hadn’t found me two years ago, believing in the treasure, I wouldn’t be here. So thank you.” Hux gave her a small smile in return and lifted his water bottle in a one sided cheers towards her.

“As flattered as I am, I believe the true recipient of your gratitude should be Mr. Snoke. He was the one who actually paid for all of this.” Hux waved a hand out at the Sno-Cats and men working to remove the last of the snow.

“Ah yes, the mysterious benefactor.”

“Mysterious indeed.” Hux agreed, “But he obviously saw something in you, otherwise he wouldn’t have made such a large investment in this endeavor.”

“Well it’s nice to know someone doesn’t believe I’m completely crazy. Or my grandfather. Or my entire family come to think of it.” Rey chuckled. “I hope I get to meet him one day and thank him in person.”

“I’m sure you’ll be graced with that opportunity.”

“Sir.” A voice called out from a few yards away, cutting their conversation short. Rey and Hux looked over to see Finn, Poe, and one of Hux’s men, Mitaka, standing together near the other end of the ship. “We’re ready.” Rey felt her pulse spike as she stood up and made her way over to the group.

 _Would the treasure even be here?_ Rey worried to herself. _What if someone else already got here years ago and ransacked the place. Or worse, what if there was nothing there. That the treasure wasn’t real and everyone who had ever called her family crazy was right and-_

“Stop spiraling.” Finn said bluntly when Rey came to a stop beside him. She blinked and looked over at him.

“Huh?” 

“I can see it in your eyes. You’re freaking out and doubting yourself when there’s no reason for it.” Finn assured her. After a beat, she gave him a small smile and a sideways hug that felt like a playful shove. She was glad to have Finn there to keep her grounded.

“Alright let’s go!” Rey called out to the group and tugged open the frosted door leading down into the belly of the ship.

“Let’s go find some treasure!” Hux responded in kind as she disappeared through the door, raising a cheer from some of his men.

Rey took the stairs slowly, unsure of how sturdy they would be after being abandoned all these years, or how slippery they would be from the ice and snow stuck to them. Hux followed in closely after her with Finn and Poe behind him. The crunch of their boots on the snow were a comfort, letting her know she wasn’t down here alone. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, Rey shone her flashlight around the lower deck, revealing everything that was preserved with a layer of snow and ice. 

After a few moments of careful searching, Rey finally found the hatch that led even deeper into the ship, but they were frozen shut. It took Hux having to pry open the doors with his axe, (and a bit of help from Poe) until they finally swung open. She took these stairs even slower as they were narrower and somehow more snow covered than the ones before, but she lost her footing halfway down, scrambling to find anything to grab onto. Her hand finally came to rest on a ring that was mounted on the wall right before her ass met the icy ground. 

“You okay?” Poe called from the top of the stairs behind her. 

“Yeah I’m fine.” she took a moment to steady herself before continuing her trek down into the belly of the beast. 

The stairs opened up to the crew’s quarters, with rows of hammocks hanging from the ceiling. The group moved throughout the room and in between the aisles of the hammocks, checking to see if anything of importance had been left behind from the long departed crew. 

From across the room, Rey heard a loud thud and spun around towards the noise only to see Finn flailing his arms as he stumbled backwards and fell hard on the floor. Poe raced over to help him to his feet while he spluttered unintelligibly, pointing towards one of the hammocks with a wild look in his eyes. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Rey walked over towards the hammock in question and pushed the top hammock out of the way to reveal the skeleton of some poor crew member lying there peacefully. A ghost indeed.

“Well you handled that well.” She remarked sarcastically as she smirked at Finn who glared back at her in response, breath still coming out in heavy huffs. They kept making their way towards the back of the ship and Rey could hear Poe softly trying to alleviate Finn’s embarrassment.

When they came upon the back wall of the crew’s quarters, were she spotted yet another door. _Finally,_ she thought as she walked over and reached up to touch it with her gloved hand.

“It’s the cargo hold!” Rey yelled over her shoulder to the group,her voice echoing through the ship. Before they could reach her to help, Rey threw her shoulder against the door with all her strength and the door gave way, bursting open as she toppled inside. Boxes and barrels were scattered around the room, lining the floors of the ship and canons, strapped down with thick lengths of rope, decorated the walls.

“Spread out and search everywhere.” Hux ordered his men and they immediately obeyed, splitting off towards different areas of the room. 

“Do you think it’s in the barrels?” Poe asked shining his flashlight from one barrel to the next.

“Possibly.” Rey agreed as she started to wander towards the barrel nearest to her. Hux’s men were already making their way through the hold with an almost robotic efficiency, whacking their axes against the frozen lids to pry them off.

Hux yanked the barrel in front of him hard, causing it to fall on it’s side. The lid clattered to the floor followed by a cascade of black powder. He stuck his gloves hand in the barrel and pulled out a handful of the stuff, bringing it to his face to sniff if before he watched it slip through his fingers to the ground.

“Gunpowder.”

Rey continued to walk towards the back of the cargo hold, searching for something but she wasn’t entirely sure what yet. Then, she saw it. Hidden behind a pile of boxes was another skeleton, guarding one of the barrels. He was dressed in captains clothing, and had a gun in one bony hand while his arm rested protectively over the barrel in question. 

“Now why would you be guarding this barrel?” Rey asked him, not waiting to see if he would actually come alive and respond. She dropped to her knees in front of it and pulled the bony hand off the lid, careful not to break it in its fragile state. With one hand she turned the barrel on its side and yanked the top off, the gunpowder coming out in droves as she started to shake the barrel while her other hand kept her flashlight steady. 

Inside, she spotted a patch of brown standing out amid the black powder. She set the flashlight down and reached in to grab at the brown fabric only to find that it was a box. She yanked it out and called to the others, “I think found something!”

The rest of the crew turned and followed Rey towards the pile of boxes near the middle of the hold.

“What is it?” Finn asked as he fell into place beside her.

“Well let’s find out, shall we?” she replied and pulled the leather strap loose, causing the fabric to fall away and revealing the ornate box that was hidden beneath. There was an engraving of an eagle in the center flanked by Freemasons on both sides. She could feel herself and Hux beside her, vibrating with the anticipation.

“Holy shit.” Rey whispered to herself reverentially as she held up the box to look at it more closely, admiring the craftsmanship.

“Well open it already!” Poe yelled at her excitedly, breaking Rey from her admiration as his voice echoed in the small room.She set the box back down and slowly lifted the lid to reveal—

“A pipe?” Finn asked, confused, his deflated tone pulled Rey out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a disappointed look on his face, and on everyone else’s as well.

“Do you guys even know what this is?” Rey asked incredulously, a smile brandishing her cold face. She lifted the pipe from its silk cushion so everyone could see it better.

“Is it a billion dollar pipe?” Poe asked eagerly.

Hux, ignoring Poe’s comment, reached out in awe to take the pipe from Rey. “It’s a meerschaum pipe.” He said as he turned it over in his hands. “Oh wow, it’s gorgeous.”

In the light, Rey could see that the chamber had been intricately carved out of a white stone into the shape of a castle with soldiers flanking the walls and standing in it’s towers.

“Look at the intricacy of the scroll work on the stem.” Rey pointed out, crowding into Hux’s personal space to get a better look.

“So… it’s a million doller pipe then?” Poe asked again. Rey dragged her eyes away from the scroll and stared back into his excited puppy dog eyes.

“No.” she responded, “It's a clue.”

Beside her, she heard Hux release a long sigh. She could feel the disappointment radiating off of him in waves but she didn’t care. She took the pipe out of his hands and pulled the stem and the chamber apart, earning gasps from the peanut gallery on her left

“Holy fuck, dont break it!” Finn exclaimed, leaning closer to her as if he was going to snatch the pipe out of her hands.

“We are one step closer to treasure gentlemen!” Rey said confidently to the group.

“Rey,” Hux started, finally looking at her, “You told me that the treasure would be on the Falcon.”

“No.” Rey said slowly as if she was explaining something simple to a child. “The secret lies with the Falcon. That’s what I said. That’s what Charles Carroll told my ancestor. I never said the treasure would be here, only that it might be.” Hux scoffed in disbelief and turned towards his men, all looking equally as disappointed and angry as he was.

She turned her attention back to the pipe, pulling out her pocket knife and pricking her thumb, drawing enough blood to cover the engravings.

“Peanut!” Finn exclaimed in shock but Rey ignored him.

She picked up the pipe with her other hand and held it up to the light as she wiped her bleeding thumb over the grooves of the pipe stem, making sure every inch of it was covered. Once she finished, she laid her notebook flat on the table and began to roll the scroll down the page.

“It’s Knights of the Republic Symbols.” She whispered softly as red lettering began to appear on the piece of paper. 

_The legend writ_

_The stain effected_

_The key in Silence undetected_

_Fifty five in iron pen_

_Mr. Matlock can’t offend_

“It’s just a riddle.” Hux grumbled as he rubbed his hands over his face in annoyance. “I thought you said the treasure was on The Falcon!” He fumed but Rey paid him no mind, already walking off to think about the riddle, muttering it under her breath over and over.

“Rey!” Hux yelled trying to get her attention.

“Shut up Hux I need to think!” She snapped back.

“No, no. You are going to answer my question.” Hux replied as he stomped towards her. “You told me the treasure was on The Falcon. Well, where is it?” Rey spun on her heel towards him just as he stopped in front of her, encroaching on her personal space more than she would have preferred.

“I just told you I never said that treasure would be here, only that it might be.” Rey replied coolly. “I said that the secret lies with the Falcon. And this,” She waved the notebook in his face, “is that secret. We’re one step closer to this treasure!” His hand closed around the arm that held the notebook and he pulled her closer, almost spitting on her face as he spoke.

“This is not what I promised Mr. Snoke! He expecting results today!” Hux yelled back, his face getting progressively more red.

“These are results!” Rey fired back. “Now if you want any chance of finding this treasure you will let me go and think for five fucking minutes.” She yanked her arm free from his grasp and stomped off towards the back corner of the hall while the rest of the group stayed where they were talking amongst themselves.

“The legend writ. The stain affected…” Rey whispered the riddle to herself over and over, trying to make sense of it. _Come on, Obi._ Rey thought to herself. _Give me a little guidance._

Slightly disappointed that the ghost of her grandfather didn’t appear before her, Rey continued her pacing.

“The legend. What legend? The legend of the Knights of the Republic Treasure. How does the stain affect the legend? Wait.” Rey found her way closer to everyone and sat down on an unopened barrel.

“The legend and a key. Now that’s something.” She said, starting to talk towards the group and not just herself. “A map right? Maps have legends and keys. It has to be a map, an invisible map.”

“Okay wait hold on a minute.” Hux interrupted, still clearly very annoyed. “What do you mean invisible?”

“The stain effected.” Rey quoted the riddle back to him. “It could refer to a dye or a re-agent, meant to bring about a certain result. Then combining that with the key in silence undetected, the implication could be that the result we want would be making the undetected, detectable. Unless, the key in Silence could be-”

“A prison.” Mitaka finished for her.

Rey, Finn, Poe, and Hux all looked towards him confused. Mitaka suddenly looked uncomfortable under their attention as if he didn’t expect them to react to what he said.

“Cleveland!” Poe replied sarcastically, “See, I can do it too. Snorkel!”

“It’s where the map is.” Mitaka pushed on. “Like the riddle said. Fifty five in iron pen. Iron Pen is a prison.”

“Or,” Rey started, stretching out the sounds, “Maybe since the primary writing medium at that time was iron gall ink, the pen could just be that… a pen. But why wouldn’t they just say pen, when iron pen?”

“Because it’s a prison.” Mitaka grumbled to himself but Hux shushed him. 

“Wait a minute!” Rey exclaimed as she jumped off her barrel and started talking a mile a minute, “Iron pen! It isn’t describing the ink inside the pen. It’s describing what was penned!”

Rey began pacing up and down the row of barrels, rambling, and disregarding everyone’s eyes locked on her.

“It was iron. It was firm. It was mineral, oh wait no that’s… that’s stupid, no. It was adamant. It was resolved.” She froze her pacing and looked back up towards everyone, locking eyes with Finn who was clearly trying to follow her train of thought.

“It was resolved. Mr. Matlock can’t offend.” Rey started walking slowly towards Finn and Poe, talking only to them, trying to get them to understand what she figured out. “Timothy Matlock was the scribe for the Continental Congress. And to make sure he would not offend the map, it was put on the back of a resolution that he transcribed. A resolution that fifty five men signed.”

Rey finally stopped in front of them and grabbed Finn’s hands tightly as if she could will him to understand her logic. But it was Poe standing next to him that gasped, finally piecing together what Rey was trying to say.

“The Declaration of Independence.”

There was a beat of silence before Rey heard a soft chuckle behind her and saw Hux’s shoulder shaking slightly as he laughed, trying to process what she just said.

“Oh come on,” Mitaka replied first, “There no way there’s an invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence!”

“No it’s genius.” Poe whispered.

“You’re right.” Hux agreed.

“I’m sorry could you repeat that please? I’d like to record it.” Poe retorted back with an added air of cockiness.

“Not on your life. But you are right.” Hux said again, a small smile on his face, “Putting it on the back of a document such importance would guarantee the map’s survival. And you said that there were several Freemasons who signed it right?”

“Yea. Nine for sure.” Rey answered.

“Well We’ll have to arrange a way to examine it then.” Hux said. He smoothed out his pants and slowly stood back up.

“This is one of the most important documents in history. They’re not just going to let us waltz right in and start running chemical tests on it.” Rey argued

“Well then what pray tell do you propose we do?”

“I don’t know!” Rey yelled back, “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

Rey let her head fall into her hands, trying to collect her thoughts that were running a mile a minute. _This is it,_ she thought disparagingly, _I’m never going to find this treasure._

“We could borrow it.” Hux said, breaking her downward spiral, she looked up at him through her gloved hands incredulously.

“What? You mean steal it?”

Hux just shrugged his shoulders in response.

“I don’t think so.” Rey responded slowly.

Hux dragged his hand down his face exasperatedly. “Rey, we have to try. The Knights of the Republic treasure is the treasure to end all treasures.”

“Oh really?” Rey retorted, “I didn’t know that. It’s not like I dedicated my entire life to it or anything.”

“You and your family have spent generations searching for this treasure only to be met with scorn and mockery from anyone in the respected historical community.” Hux continued, “You deserve to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces. I want to give you that chance.”

“How Hux?”

Hux took a minute to gather his thoughts, as if he was trying to figure out the best way to phrase whatever he was going to say next.

“We all have our own area of expertise. I do have skills extending beyond doling out money to Mr. Snoke’s projects and making sure they follow through. Prior to and even for Mr. Snoke, I have arranged a number of operations of… questionable legality.”

“I’d take his word for it.” Mitaka added as he walked to stand next to Hux.

“So don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” Hux continued, “I’ll make all the arrangements.”

Rey, too stunned silent just stared down at Hux with her mouth hanging open.

“No!” Rey exclaimed once she finally found her voice. “I’m not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence. This is insane!”

Hux stared at her for a minute as if trying to gauge whether she might change her mind or not but Rey chose to stare right back into his eyes, steeling her resolve. Her family name had already been dragged through the mud on account of the myth of this treasure, she wasn’t about to add grand larceny to the list of dis-credentials.

“Well, I see your mind has been made up.” Hux said as he stood up, “Such a shame, I thought we could make a good team but unfortunately Mr. Snoke doesn’t appreciate when his investments don’t follow through. With that being said, I think it’s clear that this partnership is now terminated and from this point on, all you’re going to be is a hindrance.”

With a slight nod of his head, Hux gestured towards Mitaka who grew a gun from his coat pocket and leveled it at Rey.

“Hey!” Finn shouted. He made a move towards the gun but Poe grabbed his arm, forcing him to stay in place.

“What are you gonna do, shoot me Mitaka?” Rey asked surprised at how steady her voice sounded. “Well you can’t shoot me. There’s more to the riddle, more information that you don’t have but I do. You know I’m the only one who can figure it out.”

“She’s bluffing.” Mitaka murmured to Hux.

“Oh come on Hux,” she added, a slightly sultry tone to her voice. “We’ve played poker together. You know I can’t bluff.” She watched as even in the immense cold, Hux’s face turned bright red. She knew he remembered that night in the hotel, right before they left for the frozen tundra of the arctic. A game of strip poker was involved and then one thing led to another. She wondered how much that night meant to him. 

Hux scoffed and turned back towards Rey. “Alright then. Tell me what I need to know, or I’ll shoot Finn.” There was her answer. It meant less to him than it did to her, which only hurt slightly.

Mitaka turned the gun away from Rey and aimed it towards where Finn and Poe were standing a few feet away.

“No!” Rey cried out. More terrified to see the gun trained on her best friends then when it was aimed at herself.

“Enough!” Hux yelled, “Your job is finished here Finn.”

Before he could say more Rey pulled a flare out of her pocket and lit it, causing Mitaka and Hux to turn their attention back to her, their eyes wide.

“Look at where you’re standing asshole.” Rey growled gesturing towards the floor with her flare. “This entire room is covered in gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, we all go up, and no one gets that treasure.”

“Rey what are you doing?” Poe yelled, the fear in his voice heightening it. Maybe she had gone insane, but she’d rather go with them than to watch them die.

Hux squinted at her, clearly trying to figure out if she had somehow learned to bluff since their poker game.. “And what happens if we wait for the flare to go down, hm?” Hux questioned. “Just tell us what we need to know Rey and we can all walk away from this.” his voice turned gentler now, and scared as if he was trying to call back to that night, and the gentle way he had spoken to her, to save his own skin, but she had already seen him for who he was.

“You need to know…” Rey started, looking from Finn, to Poe, to Hux, to the flare in her hand, “You need to know, if Mitaka can catch.”

Rey threw the flare straight at Mitaka hoping she could distract them enough to at least run over to Finn and Poe but before she even took a step, Hux reached out and caught it before it hit the floor.

Hux look at the flare and then pointed it directly at Rey’s face, “Nice try though, now-- GAH!”

Rey wasn’t sure what happened but the flare exploded and caught Hux’s coat on fire. In his shock he dropped the flare onto the floor and started patting his arm trying to put the fire out.

The flare landed and immediately the gunpowder creating a wall of fire between her, Hux, and Mitaka. Rey turned away from the fire shielding her face. She started making her way towards the back of the cargo hold when she heard the sound of a gunshot. _Is he really still trying to shoot me?_ Rey thought incredulously. She fell to the floor to take cover as Mitaka continued to fire. She heard a yelp and saw Finn and Poe duck from a stray shot he sent towards them.

She watched through the growing fire as Hux made a running start at the door they came in through. 

“Come on Mitaka!” He shouted and Mitaka ran past him, back into the other room. Hux looked back at Rey one more time but the growing fire shot up in Hux’s face and he shut the door, sealing Rey, Finn, and Poe inside the burning room.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Rey muttered to herself as she frantically looked around the room for a way out. She took a step to her right and felt the floorboards creak beneath her. Stomping down even harder she could hear and echo beneath as if there was an opening below.

“Finn, Poe, get over here!” She yelled over the roaring flames. Running her hand over the floor she found the latch hidden under the snow and yanked up. The hatch opened up revealing a set of stairs leading deeper into the ship.

“What is it?” Finn yelled in here ear.

“A smuggler’s hole. Get in!” Rey shoved Finn down first, followed by Poe with Rey going down last, shutting the hatch as she did.

“Go, go!” Rey yelled at the pair, pushing them forwards down the hallways. They ran as fast as they could being forced to bend over in half so they wouldn’t hit their heads. Flaming gunpowder was starting to fall through the cracks in the ceiling causing Rey to throw herself sideways into the wall to avoid the flames.

The hallway ended with another open door. Rey shoved Finn and Poe inside and yelled, “Get down!” She slammed the metal door down and was instantly thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion.

“Are you guys okay?” Rey asked after a moment, turning on her side to look at them. They were both panting heavily, their frozen breath forming a little cloud over their heads.

“Yea.” Finn exhaled roughly. “We’re fine. Are you okay peanut?”

“I’ve had better days.” She replied. They sat in silence for a moment, and let the gravity of their situation finally sink in.

“Do you think they made it out?” Poe asked.

“Probably.” Finn answered. “Which means an even shittier situation for us. What are we going to do?”

“Figure out a way to get home.” Rey replied as if it was the most obvious answer.

“No, I mean… He’s actually going to steal the Declaration.”

“Then we stop him.” Rey glanced back toward them and reached out. Taking one of their hands in each of her own. “Together.”

* * *

“This is absolutely ridiculous!” Rey cried up into the sky as Finn and Poe followed her out of the 5th… maybe it was the 6th, government building they had visited that day. “Why won’t anyone believe us? You’d think the security of one of our nation’s most important documents would concern someone! Anyone!” 

“Well peanut…” Finn started but Rey raised her hand from her hip, stopping him.

“I don’t want to hear it.” she interrupted.

“Did you ever think that maybe no one is taking us seriously because we’re three strangers and the Declaration is one of the nation’s most important documents?” Finn continued anyways.

“And don’t forget, the FBI gets over 10,000 tips a week so why would they worry about something that they know is safe?” Poe chimed in as well.

“Ah yes, this is why I keep you guys around.” Rey said as she threw an arm over each of their shoulders and headed in the direction of their final meeting of the day, “The endless stream of pep talks and encouragement.”

“Anyone that can do anything is going to think we’re crazy. Anyone crazy enough to believe us isn’t going to help.” Finn argued as they walked down the street.

“We don’t need crazy,” Rey said emphatically, an idea forming in her head “but one step short of crazy, what do you get?”

“Obsessed?” Poe scoffed.

“Passionate.” she chimed, a smile spreading across her face.

* * *

Their last stop of the day was the National Archives. The building that housed the Declaration itself and their final chance to convince someone that the Declaration was actually in danger. 

They’d only been sitting in the waiting area for five minutes but the seats were already starting to make her uncomfortable. As she moved around trying to make herself stop being so anxious, Rey saw something out of the corner of her eye. She leaned over Finn and grabbed one of the many pamphlets stacked on the small table.

“Excuse you?” Finn said sarcastically but Rey paid him no mind, focusing solely on the pamphlet in her hands.

“Anniversary Gala” Rey whispered under her breath. _Hm, maybe this could be something_ Rey thought before tucking the pamphlet into her tote bag. 

“Dr. Solo will see you now Ms. Johnson.” The receptionist said as she stood up and made her way around her desk towards the closed door. “If you’d follow me?”

“Johnson?” Finn asked quietly as they got up and followed the receptionist.

“The Kenobi name doesn’t exactly garner a lot of respect in the academic community these days.” Rey whispered back.

The receptionist pushed open the door to reveal Dr. Solo, one of the nations top historians and archivists, talking loudly and angrily on the phone. He was clearly upset by whatever the person on the other end was telling him and he hadn’t even noticed people walking into his office.

“Now he’s what should be on display here.” Poe whispered, not too quietly, from behind her, “Not all these old pieces of paper.” Followed by the thump of Finn hitting his boyfriend.

While Rey agreed that Poe should keep his comments to himself, she had to agree with their sentiments. The first thing she noticed was his hair, neatly cut but thick and luscious at the same time. Her eyes trailed down to his face. His skin looked like a reverse night sky, a constellation of dark stars across milky white surface. 

The receptionist closed the door behind them and Dr. Solo finally looked up and noticed the new comers. The moment he caught Rey’s gaze she felt as if she was frozen in place, unable to breathe. 

“I’ll have to call you back.” He said abruptly to the other person, not taking his eyes off Rey. “Yes, yes later today I promise. Okay... yes… alright. Goodbye.” He hung up the phone and stood up to greet them.

He shook Finn and Poe’s hands first as they introduced himself and then he finally turned towards Rey.

“Dr. Benjamin Solo.” He said, his deep voice soothing all of Rey’s nerves in a way she hasn’t experienced before. 

“Kira Johnson.” Rey responded and reached out to shake his outstretched hand. Hers looked ridiculously tiny engulfed in his which resembled more of a catcher’s mitt than a hand.

 _How can he possibly handle documents that are hundreds of years old with those things?_ She thought incredulously. _I bet that’s not the only thing they know how to handle._ The traitorous part of her brain responded.

She looked down at their clasped hands and wondered how long they had been shaking hands . Dr. Solo seemed to realize the same thing she did and abruptly pulled his hand away before walking back towards his desk. Rey followed his movements with her eyes and watched as he clenched and unclenched his hand at his side.

Ben cleared his throat and sat back down behind his desk and gestured for them to take a seat as well. “So, how can I help you today?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preview of next chapter:
> 
> Ben: Wow why the fuck is this hot chick in my office? I'm so lucky!  
> Rey: Someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence.  
> Ben: I'm sorry what was that?


End file.
